Winter of the World, Ken Follett
Winter of the World, Ken Follett
86 Rating(s)
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Winter of the World
Book Two of the Century Trilogy

Author: Ken Follett

Narrator: John Lee

Unabridged: 31 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 09/18/2012

Synopsis

Picking up where Fall of Giants, the first novel in the extraordinary Century Trilogy, left off, Winter of the World follows its five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—through a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the great dramas of World War II, and into the beginning of the long Cold War.

Carla von Ulrich, born of German and English parents, finds her life engulfed by the Nazi tide until daring to commit a deed of great courage and heartbreak . . . . American brothers Woody and Chuck Dewar, each with a secret, take separate paths to momentous events, one in Washington, the other in the bloody jungles of the Pacific . . . . English student Lloyd Williams discovers in the crucible of the Spanish Civil War that he must fight Communism just as hard as Fascism . . . . Daisy Peshkov, a driven social climber, cares only for popularity and the fast set until war transforms her life, while her cousin Volodya carves out a position in Soviet intelligence that will affect not only this war but also the war to come.

About Ken Follett

Ken Follett, a Welsh novelist has written important bodies of work, such as: Eye of the Needle, The Key to Rebecca, Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, Whiteout, The Century Trilogy. His genre includes thrillers and historical fiction. As a youth he was never allowed to watch television or movies, so out of boredom, he developed a keen interest in reading.

Follett had various jobs on his pathway to being a novelist. He was a general assignment reporter for the Evening News in London. He found that work to be very unchallenging, so he took a position as managing director of Everest Books and began writing fiction as an evening hobby. With the publication of Eye of the Needle in 1978 he became not only internationally known, but also wealthy. Follett’s next project is a third book in his Kingsbridge series. The first two were The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, and is to be released in 2017.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Max on September 13, 2012

I read the first of this trilogy – Fall of Giants. It was excellent. Winter of the World continues in the same superlative fashion. The narrative is quick and absorbing. Through the eyes of interesting characters, you get a front row seat in the most memorable historical events that were really not......more

Goodreads review by Jay on November 02, 2012

My rating would have been 2 and one-half stars if Goodreads had given me the option. Plus I think the divergence of this review from the "average" of the reviews for the book is as much due to the cognitive dissonance of not "really enjoying" a book that you've slogged thru 960 pages to complete, th......more

Goodreads review by Dana on September 05, 2018

The second in Follett’s Century Trilogy follows the main characters from Fall of Giants and their children as they navigate the major events of the 1930s and 1940s. Readers will see the rise of Nazi Germany, the epic battles of World War II, and the birth of the atomic era through the eyes of men an......more

Goodreads review by R.K. on September 10, 2020

Just finished my second read through. I’m so happy to dive back into this trilogy full of amazing characters. This book makes me the most uncomfortable—it deals with the most lose and offers little relief to the reader. For every triumph you see another character pushed to the breaking point.......more

Goodreads review by Katie on February 18, 2013

I was a fan of Ken Follett's previous books (Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and, to an extent, Fall of Giants) but I really didn't enjoy this book. I felt like he "phoned it in" or rushed to get it out quickly, which was disappointing. My main problems with the novel were: 1) unrealistic d......more

Quotes

Praise for Winter of the World

"Gripping . . . powerful." —The New York Times

"Some of the biggest-picture fiction being written today." —The Seattle Times

"A consistently compelling portrait of a world in crisis." —The Washington Post  

"Masterfully sweeping. . . . Political intrigue, amorous episodes, suspense, and drama. History comes to life." —The Louisville Courier-Journal

"[Follett] is so good at plotting a story, even one that takes on such a complex topic such as the World War II era. That's what makes Winter of the World so hard to put down. You want to know what happens next." —The Associated Press

"An entertaining historical soap opera." —Kirkus Reviews

"The man tells a story so well. . . . Follett can make things glow with some beautifully written episodes." —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Clips along at a brisk pace. . . [Follett] knows how to keep the pages turning and how to make the reader feel a kinship with the characters' struggles. . . . No matter the ultimate destination, readers can expect to savor the journey." —The Christian Science Monitor

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